Rolling in and out of phase
When the shaking starts
Walking backwards towards the cape
Twenty yards
Smoking eighteen cigarettes
Giving two away
Thinking smugly, "How does anyone smoke a pack a day?"
Pressed up against over the line
And everyone is being polite
Another half a bottle of wine
Lock and key
I wanted things to stay
How they would not stay
I'd ask you to explain
But it's not your problem
Oh, I've been in a state
And you don't relate
I wish that I could say
Where it got me
But that's not me
Still just barely off the train
Central station
Subtle attempt to check reflection
In shop window
Barely fifteen miles away
Gilded portico
Above which imagined life
Daily rolls
Resting idle finger on blade
Contemplating messes made
Reflexive self-regard overlaid
Lock and key
I wanted things to stay
How they would not stay
I'd ask you to explain
But it's not your problem
Oh, I've been in a state
And you don't relate
I wish that I could say
Where it got me
But that's not me
